The First Concert of NWEAMO 2015: April 26,”From Trance to Cool”

From Trance to Cool was held on April 26th, 2015

Suite Noir

Movement 1 — Floating Above The City At Night Imagines what it might be like if one could click one’s heals like Dorothy, and then float up effortlessly into the sky at night. What would you do if that happened to you? You might well enjoy the whimsy & freedom of flying like a kite, blimp, or a gull – sailing, floating, looking down upon millions of people, most of them asleep – but here and there you might see a person sitting by themselves in the moonlight – in a state of loneliness or grief and you might imagine for a moment the enormous suffering and loneliness in our great cities… so movement one is whimsical but also touches on that.

Movement 2 — An Invisible Wind Of Imaginary Music – an Animae/Tolkien Fantasy – dream fantasy, great armies in the clouds racing and doing battle in the moonlight – – then somehow (dream logic ) ending up in a jazz club in Paris 30s, before waking up again in one’s tiny flat to begin the day.

Movement 3 — Cerulean And Other Colors Of The Sky – Dance Of The Wind Spirits – takes as its inspirations the final movement to Berlioz’ “Symphony Fantastique”, which is an opium dream of a wild, orgiastic witches Sabbath… and Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” – but this piece is more like magic class at Hogwarts Academy – where something goes wrong, the spells cut loose and go flying madly around the room – a bunch of mischievous poltergeists….

Quiet Music
Early Morning (string trio, performed by members of the Hausmann String Qt: Isaac Allen, Angela Choong, Alex Greenbaum

M8untain In The Mist
Performed by the SWARMIUS Ensemble

Bee Carillon
A Habernero Palindrome (performed by SWARMIUS)

Program Notes Concert 1: Main event of the evening, a new concerto grosso entitled “Suite Noir”, by Joseph Martin Waters.

This is a three movement, half hour total concerto grosso featuring the San Diego State University Symphonic Orchestra under the direction of Michael Gerdes with 4 soloists, from The Hausmann String Quartet, and the SWARMIUS Ensemble.

The work was premiered a few weeks ago, on March 22. This will be performance number two. Note from the composer: “Suite Noir” concerns three main ideas:

1. Like many of my pieces it’s a rumination on who we are and how we think about each other and our place in the world…

2. it is also an homage to 1930s & 40s – the era of the Great American songbook – songs of Gershwin, Porter, Ellington – these were composed before I was born – they are the songs of my parents generation. I grew up hearing them around the house. There are no quotations here – just the harmonic and melodic idioms.

3. it’s about the night – when all the notions that we cling to about what we believe in and who we are melt away into a dream world, that we know almost nothing about.

It has 4 major solo parts, three of which feature my band-mates of SWARMIUS

The work also has a major piano component, which will be performed by our new friend Maria Didur. • comprised of 3 movements – All about flying – not in airplanes – following are some brief descriptions:

Movement 1 — Floating Above The City At Night Imagines what it might be like if one could click one’s heals like Dorothy, and then float up effortlessly into the sky at night. What would you do if that happened to you? You might well enjoy the whimsy & freedom of flying like a kite, blimp, or a gull – sailing, floating, looking down upon millions of people, most of them asleep – but here and there you might see a person sitting by themselves in the moonlight – in a state of loneliness or grief and you might imagine for a moment the enormous suffering and loneliness in our great cities… so movement one is whimsical but also touches on that.

Movement 2 — An Invisible Wind Of Imaginary Music – an Animae/Tolkien Fantasy – dream fantasy, great armies in the clouds racing and doing battle in the moonlight – – then somehow (dream logic ) ending up in a jazz club in Paris 30s, before waking up again in one’s tiny flat to begin the day.

Movement 3 — Cerulean And Other Colors Of The Sky – Dance Of The Wind Spirits – takes as its inspirations the final movement to Berlioz’ “Symphony Fantastique”, which is an opium dream of a wild, orgiastic witches Sabbath… and Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” – but this piece is more like magic class at Hogwarts Academy – where something goes wrong, the spells cut loose and go flying madly around the room – a bunch of mischievous poltergeists….